I wanted to remove this 18 inch section of pipe that actually had a threaded joint and a slip on joint. I was going to add the hydrant to this section so if there was a problem I would be able to easily replace a small section of pipe and could take it out of the hole to work on. It sounded like a good plan except I could not screw the pipe joint apart. It was PVC pipe and it would not unscrew. I finally resorted to a metal pipe wrench on both parts but still could not get it to unscrew. I did however notice that I was stressing the joint and wondered if that would come back to haunt me later. I had all the needed parts so I attempted to glue the parts together. No biggie as I had lots of old cans of PVC glue out in the shed, two from last year. I tossed out four cans of dessicated and hardened glue. I had to run to the local hardware store and thankfully they had some PVC glue. I came back to the house and glued in the T piece and let it sit outside the hole for a few hours. I then went to replace the backyard hydrant. I needed to remove a four foot long piece of galvanized metal. It would not budge! I tried some WD-40 on the joint but to no avail. I found a four foot chunk of pipe to slip over the handle of the pipe wrench. This makes for some serious leverage, but after the few metal things I have broken this summer I went easy on the power and tried more finesse and steady pressure instead of reefing and swearing at it. The pipe came out and I screwed the hydrant in without any complications. Five minutes once I had the cheater pipe. All plumbing jobs should be this easy. I then went to town that afternoon to get all the PVC parts to do the job one more time. I had plans to apply water pressure that evening but if there were any complications I would not be able to go to the hardware store and would have to wait. The $10 was cheap insurance. That evening I installed the PVC pipe and got it all tightened down and ready to go. I called my mother-in law to start the pump. Both our houses are on the same pump and there is no isolation valve so if one of us has a leak we both lose water. She fired it up and all my joints I added held wonderfully. It was pure magic, except for the large stream of water shooting out from the old joint I stressed with my large metal pipe wrench. It had a jet of water leaking by a one inch section. I had to call and quickly get the water turned off before the hole filled up with water. I ended up having to dig the hole a little bigger to allow me access with a hack saw to cut the pipe. I had no simple end to end glue joints. I glued a hole new section together with parts of the one I just removed and let it dry in the house.
Then I remembered I had not checked on the backyard hydrant. The entire hole was filled to the top with water! The main pipe at the bottom of the hole has a 3/4 inch valve and a 90 degree elbow and a reduction joint. I was not certain where the leak was at. I am sure my gentle application of pressure with a four foot cheater bar had broken a piece of the 80+ year old pipe buried in the ground. There was so much water that it was just going to have to wait until morning, plus it was starting to get dark. I smelled like pipe glue and primer so Annmarie made me go to my mother’s house and shower. Plumbing is always painful, never easy and done twice at a bare minimum.
